Walgreens opens store in Reflection Ridge retirement center

The Deerfield, Ill.-based chain opened a store in a 14-foot-by-16-foot space at Reflection Ridge retirement community this week.

The store, staffed by Walgreens employees, is open from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, at the complex at 2300 N. Tyler, just north of 21st Street.

Chris Bryde, who manages the community along with his wife, Suzanne, said it’s the first Walgreens store inside a retirement community owned by Reflection Ridge’s parent, Resort Lifestyle Communities.

In addition to Reflection Ridge, the company operates six retirement communities in Nebraska, Texas and Missouri. It also plans to open two more in Texas and Tennessee later this year and early next year.

Suzanne Bryde said the partnership to open a Walgreens store at Reflection Ridge, an independent-living community with 140 residents, started after a telephone conversation between her and a Walgreens store manager.

“I thought how nice it would be to have someone like Walgreens in here,” she said.

The idea, Chris Bryde said, was to provide Reflection Ridge residents a retail store that offered personal items, sundries, snacks and over-the-counter medications – without requiring residents to leave the building. A Walgreens pharmacist is also available for residents to consult during store hours one day a week.

“It’s convenient,” Chris Bryde said, noting that it’s been especially good the past week or so because the community’s residents don’t have to “get out in this heat.”

A Walgreens spokesman confirmed the store’s opening this week but said on Friday afternoon that he couldn’t immediately provide additional information on Walgreens’ plans for similar stores.

Chris Bryde said Reflection Ridge does not charge Walgreens rent for the space.

Walgreens has 67 stores in Kansas and more than 7,800 across the country.